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Living a Life of Meaning
Dec 21, 2020 By 91快播 | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The disruption to normal life, and, for many, close encounters with mortality, provides an opportunity to evaluate what is truly important in our lives. Guided by 91快播 faculty and fellows, we will discuss the role of values, ethics, and Torah in the quest for a well-lived life.
The Book Smugglers of the Vilna Ghetto: Choosing a Life of Meaning Under the Specter of Death
Dec 21, 2020 By David Fishman | Public Event video | Video Lecture
In Vilna, 鈥渢he Jerusalem of Lithuania,鈥� a group of Jewish writers and intellectuals risked their lives to rescue Jewish books, manuscripts, and art from the Nazis. While working as slave laborers for a Nazi looting agency, they 鈥渟tole鈥� Jewish cultural treasures from their masters, smuggled them into the ghetto, and hid them in underground cellars and bunkers. The few members of this group who survived the war returned to Vilna after itsliberation, andled an operation to retrieve the treasures.
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Sufferings Large and Small
Dec 15, 2020 By Sarah Wolf | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The ancient Rabbis struggled with the classic problem of theodicy: why would God let terrible things happen to good people? But they also struggled with what may seem like a more contemporary problem: if suffering is supposed to be meaningful in some way, is there any significance to our more mundane, everyday disappointments? Explore the rabbis鈥� perhaps surprising take both on what counts as 鈥渟uffering鈥� and what it ultimately means.
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Communings of the Spirit, Vol. III
Dec 7, 2020 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
A discussion with Dr. Mel Scult: Mordecai M. Kaplan, the founder of Reconstructionism, and the rabbi who initiated the first Bat Mitzvah, also produced the longest Jewish diary on record. In 27 volumes, running from 1913 to 1978, Kaplan shares with us not only his reaction to the great events of his time, but also his very personal thoughts on every aspect of religion and Jewish life. In this volume, editor and Kaplan biographer Mel Scult presents Kaplan contemplating the momentous events of the 1940s.
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Trauma and Testimony in an Oversharing Society
Dec 7, 2020 By Edna Friedberg | Public Event video | Video Lecture
The pandemic has forced us to live much of our lives online. But what happens when experiences that used to be private and intimate are exposed to the glare of public scrutiny? How is the impact of experience changed by retelling it, and does sharing our experiences make them more meaningful? This is a discussion of how refugees from war-torn Europe were recast as 鈥淗olocaust survivors鈥� and how trauma morphs when repackaged for broader consumption. The session will include pioneering early audio and film recordings of survivors as young people in the 1940s and 50s.
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Bound in the Bond of Life
Dec 1, 2020 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
A discussion with author Dr. Beth Kissileff: On October 27, 2018, three congregations were holding their morning Shabbat services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh鈥檚 Squirrel Hill neighborhood when a lone gunman entered the building and opened fire. He killed 11 people and injured six more in the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in American history. The story made international headlines for weeks following the shooting, but Pittsburgh and the local Jewish community could not simply move on when the news cycle did.
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The Certainty of Uncertainty
Nov 30, 2020 By Alan Cooper | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Psalm84,quoted in theHavdalahservice,assures us that human felicity arises out of trust in God.But trust is hard to come by, and felicity seems remote in times of duress.In this session we will examine biblical texts that acknowledge the challenges of doubt and uncertainty and offer ways of meeting those trials with hope,faith,and trust.
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The Real Lives of Jews in the Traditional World
Nov 23, 2020 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Many of us know the 鈥渙fficial version鈥� of the lives of Jews through the ages, according to which Jews were pious and thoroughly immersed in Jewish life鈥攁 life apart. But many of the rare materials in the 91快播 Library offer a different picture, according to which Jews lived in the world with their neighbors, experiencing life first as human beings and then as Jews. Dr. David Kraemer shares evidence from the Library鈥檚 great collections, surprising and even shocking you with a corrective to commonly repeated historical 鈥渢ruths.鈥�
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The Wholeness of a Broken Heart
Nov 23, 2020 By Mychal Springer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Life鈥檚 challenges raise up the reality of human vulnerability. Too often, people experience the heartbreak of suffering. In this session we will explore the paradoxical teaching of theKotzkerRebbe that 鈥渢here is nothing more whole than a broken heart.鈥�
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A Dialogue of Love: Interreligious Cooperation and Global Well-Being
Nov 16, 2020 By 91快播 | Public Event video
Professor Azza Karam, secretary general of Religions for Peace International, discusses how multifaith alliances can further peace and well-being in our fractured world.
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Tales of the Holy Mysticat
Nov 12, 2020 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
In Tales of the Holy Mysticat, Rabbi Adler, a professor of Modern Jewish Thought and one of our generation鈥檚 most profoundly creative scholars, uses a collection of whimsical stories, interspersed with cleverly drawn black-and-white illustrations, to provide unique insights into Jewish mysticism. And it’s all portrayed through the life of her cat. In this online conversation, Rabbi Adler discusses how, just as the Holy Mysticat became Adler’s teacher, so too can the Holy Mysticat teach us all.
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Remix Judaism
Nov 9, 2020 By Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary | Public Event video
Relying on modern Jewish sociology, in addition to narratives running the gamut from the Talmud to timely interviews and personal stories, Remix Judaism shows how a Jewish tradition open to personal meaning can substantially deepen one’s connection to Jewish tradition.
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Nurturing Character, Community, and Meaning-Making Through Jewish Education
Nov 9, 2020 By Jeffrey Kress | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Even as we are zooming forward into a new, Covid-altered educational landscape, there are goals of Jewish education鈥攚hether in schools, camps, home, or other settings鈥攖hat are enduring. In this session we will look at Jewish education through the lenses of character, community, andmeaning-makingto provide context for current discussions of online and hybridlearning, andto expand our thinkingabout the goals and processes of Jewish learning.
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The Torah鈥檚 Take on Happiness
Nov 2, 2020 By Jan Uhrbach | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Moses鈥� final speech concludes with a declaration of the happiness of being a Jew: 鈥淗appy are you, O Israel!鈥滲ut does the Torah describe any individual as happy?Whilethe pursuit ofhappiness, as expressed in the Torah and its interpretations? Is the American ideal of happiness a Jewish concept at all?
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Judaism (Religions of Humanity series)
Oct 26, 2020 By Burton L. Visotzky | Public Event video
How do you portray 2,000 years of Judaism in only three volumes? That’s what co-editors Dr. Burton L. Visotzky of 91快播 and Professor Dr. Michael Tilly of T眉bingen University discuss at this celebration of Judaism. Their new three-volume compendium offers a global view of Jewish history, an overview of Jewish literature, and insight into Jewish culture and modernity.
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Spiritual Meaning and Inspiration in Hasidic Teaching
Oct 26, 2020 By Eitan Fishbane | Public Event video | Video Lecture
In this session we explore several powerful examples in whichhasidicspiritual masters read the Hebrew Bible figuratively in order to often playfully and brilliantly convey deep spiritual insights about the nature of life, of the world, and of God鈥榮 immanent presence in our lives.
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Gifts of Wisdom: The Historical Traditions and Values of the Ethical Will
Oct 19, 2020 By Stefanie B. Siegmund | Public Event video | Video Lecture
At pivotal moments that make us think about death鈥攅ncounterswith serious illness,the loss of loved ones,advancing age,orevenbringingchildren into our lives鈥攚eturnto lawyers to write or revise our wills.Writing awill is an opportunity toconsider our priorities aswe plan to distribute our estates to the people, organizations, and causes that we care about.What if you also tried to write a letter that would be readby your descendants,perhaps even at your funeral,about your values? What would you say? How does Judaism inform these values?
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Generosity, Gratitude, and Faith: Rav Eliyahu Dessler鈥檚 Integrative Approach to Creating a Meaningful Life
Oct 12, 2020 By Eliezer B. Diamond z”l | Public Event video | Video Lecture
What is the relationship between our level of generosity and our beliefs, our attitudes, and our actions? ForRavEliyahu Dessler (1892-1953, England/Israel),love,faith,empathy,and social bondingareconsequencesof generosity鈥攏ot its causes.In this session, we will discussRavDessler鈥檚 insights and his vision for living meaningfully.
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Anticipating Death and Finding Satisfaction in Life: The Profound Wisdom of Kohelet
Oct 5, 2020 By David C. Kraemer | Public Event video | Video Lecture
Wise people will have different views about what constitutesa鈥淟ife of Meaning.鈥滲ut no one researched this question more completely than the biblical author, Kohelet (Ecclesiastes). In this sessionwe review his reportinEcclesiastesch.2and evaluate his conclusions concerning what truly makes a life 鈥渨ell-lived.鈥�
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Restoring Balance: Exploring an Ancient Paradigm for Moving Beyond Our Mistakes
Sep 14, 2020 By Julia Andelman | Public Event video | Video Lecture | Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement鈥攜et the concept of atonement itself is rarely explored. The text of themahzor(High Holiday prayerbook) asks God to 鈥渇orgive us, pardon us, grant usatonement鈥濃�攂ut how is atonement distinct from forgiveness and pardon?Through an examination of biblical and rabbinic sources, we will learn how our ancestorsinterpretedthe concept ofkapparah,atonement, and the great power it held in their understanding ofhowhuman beings鈥攆lawed in our very nature鈥攃ancarry on in theworldafter we have sinned.
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